Le tombeau de Philippe-Dagobert : un monument royal chez les moines blancs

Abstract

The tomb of Philippe (called Dagobert), the younger brother of Saint Louis who died probably in 1234, represents an important stage in the constitution of the classic sculpted tomb during the central Middle Ages. All the characteristic elements are brought together here, apparently for the first time : a gisant with angels around the head and a lion at the feet ; a coffin, evoking an antique sarcophagus, bearing the gisant ; mourners on the coffin, or more exactly, the participants of the funeral ceremony, in heaven and on earth, since the angels alternate with Cistercian monks. The tomb was set up in the abbatial church of Royaumont, a royal foundation consecrated in 1235, and thus coinciding precisely with the making of the tomb. A sumptuous polychromy and glass medallions complete the decoration of the tomb. All this may seem contradictory with the austerity of the Cistercian order, of which Royaumont was a daughter house, but the royal origin of the commission explains the paradox.